Playing with Electrons to Make Stories

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Hello folks, it's been a while hasn't it? I've been stressing, drawing, and writing for/on/over this DnD adventure project I am working on, and I have gotten all the intensive drawing work out of the way, though there is still more line/sketch and map work to do. Below are all the monsters for the project called: Black Stone Starship.

As a side note, I would like to get back to working on my Infinite City. It's strange that someone could miss a fictitious place, but I do. In writing, drawing, and then showing it off, it made the city somehow real for me in a way. I've been dreaming about the place too, and I am starting to think it wants out again. Like all organic things, the City has grown and changed in my head and I have a better grasp on what the city really is, and why the Storyteller Wars were fought. I have a map too. Expect more, soon, lest the City comes flying out of my head like Athena from Zeus; though unlike the god king, I doubt I could survive a gaping exit-wound in my head. The City hungers...

My buddy helped me come up with this one.

More teenaged-psycho-bully and less Jeff Goldbloom.

This guy belong to Christopher Mennell.

Remember this monster? I am reusing the idea for this project.

I started out by drawing an old guy, then kept on adding stuff that creeped me out.

Pretty much just Cthulhu + Harpy.

The idea for this came from a pic I saw in National Geographic of a newly discovered spider.

This... This is a pair of legs with whips for an upper body.

The face/mask is based off of an old Mickey Mouse mask I saw online.

The face is based off of a pic of Charlize Theron in a magazine on my coffee table.

This is actually based off of a picture of me I took to get the pose right.

A Shtriga is an Albanian blood drinking witch.

The name comes from Trypophobia, a fear of numerous holes on a surface.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

So, I am still working on that adventure. I am putting a lot of work into it because this is my first go at being a real writer/illustrator, which means the blog has suffered. I miss making up random weird stuff, and I am looking to be getting back into it when I get the chance. After this adventure I will be writing a sci-fi themed adventure using the Blood of Pangaea system. Below is some of the art I have been working on, and here is the link to what the sci-fi adventure will be based on: LINK

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

I am still working on my writing for the DnD/OSR adventure, though the release date has been pushed back to September. I am now doing the art, maps, and half the writing with the other half being done by this cool dude I know in meatspace. These pics are alternate versions that won't be used in the product, so I won't be spoiling too much by posting them here. Thank you for continuing to check out my stuff.

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

This pic is for a room I am working on for the adventure I am writing. The general idea
behind this room is the huge statue/musical-instrument generates non-sound
based phenomena like Synesthesia. Strings might produce visual stimulus, while
the horns might be physical, or particular “notes” produce a specific sensation
not linked to sound. There would be a specific monster(s) who is more or less a
blob (or maybe a conglomeration of tiny lifeforms) that has a human body part
grafted to it. These body parts allow the monster(s) to play a particular part
of the instrument: hands and arms for striking or plucking, a human face with
lips for blowing into wind-instruments, perhaps feet to step on a base drum
pedal. This instrument actually effects the brain on a semi-physical level,
meaning that the stuff experienced by the PC’s is not an illusion but rather an
environmental effect. The instrument’s players could create monsters to attack
the PC’s, dealing subdual damage, once the PC’s are incapacitated the monsters
could drag the PC’s off somewhere. In essence the instrument is both a weapon
and a puzzle for the PC’s to figure out how to disable. The monsters are
another effect generated by the instrument, and will continue to “respawn” to
play the instrument until the PC’s figure out how to disable it.

I have been thinking
about adding in a scaled down King in Yellow type monster as well, to add a bit
more danger to this. It would work kinda like an undead bard who plays music to
drive folks insane. What do you think? Here’s a link to the pic I drew for the
King in Yellow type guy: LINK

So, if any of you kind folks have any ideas on make this encounter more cool/weird/horrifying, I would totally dig the input.

Friday, May 12, 2017

So, I am not dead, just busy. I have been working on an adventure for +Christopher Mennell doing writing and some preliminary art for whoever is willing to draw my messed up ideas. I have also been working on maps. Here is what I have been up to:

Above view of a dungeon room. Map by: Me

Side view of same room. Map by: Me

Room Description:

Sphere Chamber

Pre-Written

A room with a
spherical interior, rather than a cube. Floor, walls and ceiling sloping up, or
down, and away from the you. Constructed of glossy, black stone without seams,
the room. Several red, green, and blue planes twist, swoop, and orbit at the
center of the room, illuminating the space with a pale prismatic light.

DIY

Sphere room

Glossy black
stone construction

No light source

Everything
illuminated in rainbow light

Red, green, and
blue planes move around at the center of the room

Colored Planes Effect – 1D8

Each round, the
planes will intersect and create insubstantial objects made of light. During
the round, these objects will engage a target, giving them certain penalties
depending on the type; roll randomly, including monsters, for who is effected.
At the beginning of a new round, roll again for a new effect and a new target.
(Should we allow a save to ignore this effect?)

1 - Confusion:
Will act as if they are under the effects of the Confuse spell. (1D4 – 1. Act normally, 2. Just stand babbling, 3.
Attack self with currently held object, 4. Attack nearest creature.) (R,G,B)

2 - Spaced Out:
Cannot act this round, but may defend normally. (G)

3 - Seeing Stars:
Vision is partially obscured, take -1 on all melee to-hit rolls and -2 on all
ranged to-hit rolls. (B)

4 - Scared: Will
flee, or at least attempt to, to the nearest place they perceive as safe. (B,G)

5 - Motion Sick:
Will become physically ill, only capable of moving this round, -2 to AC. (R,G)

8 - Heart of
Darkness: Unable to see, must track targets using other senses: 50% miss
chance, and no Dex bonus to AC. (None)

Shadow Orphan Ver. 1. Art by: Me

Shadow Orphan Ver. 2. Art by: Me

These two pics are of a monster that will appear in the adventure I am writing. Here is the written description for them:

Shadow Orphans

A child dressed in
rags, body filthy from days in the mud. Roiling shadows where a head should be,
the darkness thinner than razors. The shadowed head forms into human and
monster silhouettes, they play out horrors for you to watch. “It’s time.”, the
thing whispers with too many voices, all of them belonging to children.

Motivations: Sadism and Boredom. Find a game for them
to play that involves someone/something else’s pain, and they may just leave
you alone.

A Rosgobler. Art by: Me

So this is a pic I did for a net/facebook friend who is doing some kind of PDF thing. I drew it in exchange for credit on the PDF. Here is the description he gave me:

"Could you do another line drawing of a new monster called a Rosgobler? They are white as snow and about 7 feet tall. Long gangly arms with three fingers/claws. Long legs that have large feet. The arms are three."

Hopefully, I will have time to do some personal projects to share with you folks. Thanks for continuing to check out my work!